AM Welcomes News

ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT LEADS THE WAY IN PAYING BILLS ON TIME
Local Labour AM Carl Sargeant today welcomed figures which show that the Welsh Assembly Government is leading the way in paying its bills to Welsh companies in record time. According to the latest figures, the Assembly Government took an average of 5.89 days to pay for invoices between April and October this year, with fewer than five per cent of payments taking longer than ten days. The Assembly Government also recently agreed to increase the proportion of payments made within ten days and to work to ensure that the thirty day target for payments is met across the public sector in Wales.Mr Sargeant said: “The Assembly Government’s excellent record of paying its bills on time will be welcome news to businesses across Wales during the current global economic difficulties. It’s good to see Labour in the Welsh Assembly once again leading the way and showing how it should be done.
“I also welcome the fact that the Assembly Government wants to improve its payment record even further and I want to see all public sector bodies in Wales playing their part in improving the time in which they pay their bills.
“Paying their bills on time is one of the best ways that public bodies like Councils and Government Departments can help our smaller and medium sized businesses get through these global economic difficulties.
“The Assembly Government’s payment record is also in stark contrast to the way in which the Tories are acting in some parts of Wales. In Tory controlled Monmouthsire, for example, they are presiding over the worst performing local authority in Wales in terms of the amount of time it takes to pay bills to local suppliers and businesses. According to the most recent figures, that council paid only 40% of bills on time within the 30 day target.
“This just goes to show how big the gap is between what the Tories say and what they do when they are in power at any level.”